An air spring strut is used for spring-cushioning and damping a motor vehicle running gear assembly relative to the motor vehicle body. In general, the air spring strut comprises an air spring and an integrated shock absorber. In this case, the air spring consists essentially of an air spring cover, an air spring piston and an air spring bellows clamped between them. The shock absorber arranged within the air spring is, on the one hand, connected to a wheel carrier and, on the other hand, is fastened or mounted via its piston rod to an absorber bearing in the air spring cover. The air spring cover is connected to the vehicle body, as a result of which the shock absorber forces act on the body via the air spring cover.
The air spring covers, which are usually embodied in one piece, are therefore manufactured from metal since they can better absorb the forces acting and have a long life. However, air spring covers manufactured from metal are subject to a large number of machining steps and forming processes. In order to meet the functional requirements, parts that are in some cases complex and require a large amount of machining are required, being made in a large number of manufacturing steps and giving rise to high costs.
To reduce weight, air spring covers can also be manufactured from plastic, although these are subject to flow processes at high temperatures. In order to be able to appropriately absorb the shock absorber forces acting on the air spring cover, embedded reinforcing rings are used, although these once again increase the production work and costs.
DE 102013212982 A1, incorporated by reference herein, discloses an air spring cover which is manufactured from two parts in order to reduce weight, wherein these parts are made from different metals.